Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's virtual band Gorillaz took their ‘Escape to Plastic Beach’ tour to the Syrian capital of Damascus on 25 July, 2010 for an eagerly anticipated one-off performance.

Many of the featured artists from their recent album ‘Plastic Beach’ took part in the performance: Bashy, Kano, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, National Orchestra for Arabic Music, Bootie Brown and Bobby Womack. The set also featured Jamie Hewlett's innovative video animation and art work.

The venue for the performance was the Citadel, an 11th Century fortified palace situated in the ancient city of Damascus. The show was promoted by BUZZproductions and the British Council provided invaluable support with the organisation of the concert.

Check our Flickr page for more photos of Gorillaz in Damascus

Background

‘Plastic Beach’, the third album from Gorillaz released in March 2010, features Syrian musicians from the National Orchestra for Arabic Music, and the music for the track ‘White Flag’ was recorded in Damascus with the Orchestra, alongside British grime stars Kano and Bashy.

Damon Albarn subsequently invited the National Orchestra for Arabic Music to perform with Gorillaz at London's Roundhouse and at their headline performance at Glastonbury. Damon's strong interest in Arabic music paved the way for this musical partnership and it’s fitting that this fantastic collaboration between British and Arabic music has now been seen by audiences in Syria.

Elizabeth White, Director of the British Council, Syria said before the gig:

‘This will be the event of the summer. Gorillaz is the first Western band on this scale ever to play in Damascus. And what's remarkable about this concert is that Gorillaz are here because of the collaboration between Gorillaz, Issam Rafea and other Syrian musicians from the National Orchestra for Arabic Music - and now they'll be playing in the land where some of this music was conceived.’